Johannesburg - A “special” win has left the Lions as the last hope for South Africa to snatch the Super Rugby title from the dominant New Zealand teams.
With two weeks to go before a champion is crowned, the Lions will face the Highlanders in the second semi-final this coming weekend, with the first being between the Hurricanes and Chiefs.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann called the victory against the seven-time champions, the Crusaders, at Ellis Park on Saturday “special”, while the Highlanders qualified after downing the Brumbies.
The Hurricanes hammered the Sharks and the Chiefs annihilated the Stormers.Ackermann’s plan to rest his first choice players for the team’s final regular season game, against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires the week before, worked a treat as the Lions out-lasted the Crusaders in a thriller at Ellis Park.“This is a special win,” said Ackermann afterwards.
“This is a quality Crusaders team and when you consider what they’ve achieved over the years ... this has to go down as one of my better wins as a coach. I’m proud of the character and growth shown by my players.
“But also, a lot of credit must go to (assistant coaches) JP Ferreira and Swys de Bruin, who’ve worked very hard to get the team’s defence and attack up to standard.”
Captain Warren Whiteley called the victory “amazing” and added the team would go into this weekend’s semi-finals full of confidence.“Beating the Crusaders is a massive boost for our confidence.
They’ve got the better of us over the last few years so this will bring confidence to the guys for the semi-final. This coming week will again be massive. We need to keep our feet on the ground and not get ahead of ourselves ... but that said, we believe in our style of rugby, in each other and the way we’re playing, so there’s a lot of confidence in the squad; there has been all season long.
”Whiteley, pictured, who recovered from a bad shoulder injury far quicker than expected to lead the team out on Saturday, added the win against the Crusaders was already forgotten.
“We’ll stick to our processes, recover from this win and take it step by step again (from today).
“It doesn’t matter who we’re up against in the semi-finals ... it’s about who rocks up on the day and the team that’s focused and disciplined will win it.”
A win for the Lions and a victory by the Chiefs over the Hurricanes will ensure a home final. It’s something Crusaders boss Todd Blackadder and captain Kieran Read believe is highly possible.
“The Lions have played good rugby all year and today (Saturday) they took their opportunities. They started strongly, put us on the back foot and I believe they’ve got a team to do it (win the competition),” said the departing Blackadder.
Added Read: “They were more difficult to play against this time than in the last match (the April 1 meeting when the Crusaders won 43-37). They’ve got a ‘steel’ about them ... they’re physical, go long periods without the ball defending, but they’re also willing to play with the ball.”
The Lions will be hoping for good news today on scrumhalf Ross Cronjé, who scored his team’s fifth try, but also injured his leg in the process of crossing the whitewash.
Ackermann says a scan today will reveal how badly hurt the scrumhalf is, while several other players are nursing bruised ribs. X-rays are to be done on a number of the players.
The Star